Brighter Money $20, $50 and $100 notes in circulation from today

Release date

16 May 2016

New Zealand’s new $20, $50 and $100 banknotes have entered public circulation, the Reserve Bank announced today.

The Reserve Bank’s Head of Currency, Property and Security, Steve Gordon, said the release of the remaining Brighter Money Series 7 notes is a significant milestone for the project to upgrade New Zealand’s banknotes to make them more secure.

"Approximately 300,000 of the new Series 7 $20, $50 and $100 banknotes have been dispatched to banks to meet their orders so far,” Mr Gordon said.

The public might not get to see a new note for some weeks, as the Reserve Bank distributes banknotes when it receives orders from banks.

“The Reserve Bank expects more orders to come in from retail banks over the next few months as they gradually replace old notes.”

The new Brighter Money $5 and $10 banknotes have been in circulation since October last year, and already 9.7 million new notes have been dispensed.

Both Series 6 and the new Series 7 notes will circulate together, and both will be legal tender. This means the public can make payment with either the old or the new banknotes.

A public awareness campaign will run for four weeks to educate the public about the new notes and their security features.

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